The Braves squandered another opportunity to get to .500 or better this weekend when they lost two out of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend. While the Braves’ pitching was pretty good Atlanta’s offense seemed pretty anemic again, only scoring eight runs over the game series. Earlier today The Morning Shift talked about what ailing the Braves’ bats.
“If the guys you rely on in the heart of your order aren’t hitting you can bandage it up however you want to, you can make it look better, you can plug a pinch hitter in here and there, a pinch runner, but when Austin Riley and Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna and those guys are not hitting like the back of their baseball card says they should you’re not gonna win many games, and your pitching has been great, but dude those guys have got to step up in some of these situations.” Mike Johnson said
Beau Morgan followed up what Mike said by talking about how Brian Snitker is currently “hamstrung” right now when it comes to making tweaks and changes to the lineup.
“You can’t move guys when they’re not comfortable in the order, and there’s nothing that tells me that Eli White is suited to be the lead off guy, it’s like Nick Allen is the ninth hitter he’s got a better on-base percentage than [Alex] Verdugo and a better average, do you wanna move him in the order? No, not really, that’s the problem. Michael Harris was always really good in that eight, nine spot his first year or two in the league and then when you started playing with him in the leadoff spot, no it’s not for him, you can’t just move guys, some of those need to be there.” Beau said
Beau also brought some more facts to the table to break down why the Braves’ struggles offensively have everything to do with the players and nothing to do with Brian Snitker.
“You’re 21st in batting average at .237, your on-base percentage as a team is .310, your slugging percentage is .380, your OPS is .690. I mean you’re really terrible as an offense that’s why you’re losing games, and I don’t know what move he’s supposed to do. Your one free agent acquisition, the only one you did all season, has been suspended, and is in the middle of an 80-game suspension, your best player overall is still coming back from an injury.” Beau said
Brian Snitker has changed, tweaked, and experimented with the lineup as much as he can at this point. Players have been called up and sent down as well, so at this point players have to play, and players have to make plays. The Braves’ best players have to start hitting more consistently and play at the level they’re capable of playing at, and whenever that happens the Braves will start to reach their potential.